The Bee Adventures with a Dune Buggy Forklift and Pallets
Welcome back to another episode with me, The Bush Bee Man!
In today's instalment, we've got quite a unique piece of machinery - an old dune buggy which I discovered on the internet, built by an engineering father and son duo who also happened to be beekeepers.
This odd, yet inventive little contraption will hopefully help me with moving beehives. It's a little ramshackle, sure, but it's got a certain charm to it, fitting right in with all the madness around here. The buggy comes with a forklift attachment, which creates a new challenge for me: creating pallets for the bee boxes, as the forklift can't lift up individual boxes.
After much consideration and searching for inspiration online, I’ve decided to use some old redgum wood to create the pallets. I've got an idea in mind, but I must admit, this is new territory for me. If you've got any suggestions or experience in this, do send them my way!
The process of cutting up the wood and assembling the pallets has been a bit of an adventure, involving some minor mishaps and a few broken tools, but it's all part of the learning curve.
The plan is for the bee boxes to sit on these pallets, with entrances facing away from the breeze, not towards the side of the truck. After a few trial and errors, I've assembled a pallet that I hope will work.
The real test, of course, was seeing if the dune buggy could pick up the newly built pallet. After a few missteps (and discovering some quirks of the dune buggy), the pallet was successfully lifted! I'm optimistic about this new system - it could make moving hives a whole lot easier. But, I've got a long way to go, with more pallets to build and many more hives to move.
As always, I'm taking this journey one step at a time. If you're also navigating the world of beekeeping, remember that each mishap and success is part of the process. And if you're not quite at this stage yet, you're welcome to follow along and have a laugh as we stumble through the madness of beekeeping together.
Stay tuned for more updates from the bush as we continue our adventures with bees, pallets, and dune buggies!